Chris Froome

Quick Facts

PUBLISHED01 Feb, 2018

Chris Froome is a British cycling champion who has won the coveted Tour De France tournament consecutively for years from 2013-2017. He is one of the most successful cyclists of this era and also the only cyclist to have the maximum number of Tour de France titles. For his services to the sport, he was honored with the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2016.

PERSONAL LIFE:

Chris Froome was born as Christopher Clive Froome, on 20th May, 1985 to Clive and Jane Froomein Nairrobi, Kenya. He has two elder siblings-Jonathan and Jeremy. His father was a former field hockey player. The family relocated from England to Kenya to start a crop farming business. His first stint at cycling was at the age of 13, when his mother Jane tookhim to a bike race which the cyclist ended up winning. It was there that he met professional cyclist David Kinjah, who later became Froome's trainer.

After his primary schooling in Kenya, Froome relocated to Johannesburg and attended the St Andrew’s school eventually followed by St John’s College. He then enrolled in the Economics department at the University of Johannesburg. He first took to professional cycling at the age of 22.Froome debuted as a professional cyclist in the 2006 Commonwealth games at Melbourne.

Although he had a rocky start which was deemed as inconsistent by many, he slowly and steadily rose up the ladder and proved many of his critics wrong. Froome met his future wife Michelle Cound through a fellow cyclist Daryl Impey in 2009. The couple dated for a while and got engaged in 2013 and married in November 2014. They have a son, Kellan who was born in 2015.The cyclist also commits himself to environmental causes. He was appointed ambassador for the United for Wildlife conservation project.He is also the spokesperson for L’Etape sportiveevents and ambassador to the Palace to Palace charity ride, as part of the Prince’s Trust

CAREER:

Froome’s first big race was at the 2006 Commonwealth games held in Melbourne when he was placed at 17th and 25th ranks. While participating in the 2006 World Road championship, Froome got himself embroiled in controversy because he managed to alter his CV through the cycling federation president Julius Mwangi’s email account to seem favorable to professional teams so that they would sign a contract with him. His debut in Tour De France was in 2008 in which he was placed at 84th position, overall. He became the first Kenyan to represent at the Tour.2011 was the year which marked his breakthrough.He had a stupendous stint at Vuelta a Castilla y Leon and the Tour De Romandie .

However over the next two years he managed to recuperate and in 2013, he tasted his first victory at the Tour De France. Since then, there has been no lookingback. However, his quick rise to fame led to a lot of speculation about illegal doping. On hearing these rumors, Froome volunteered to test for doping allegations and came out clean. Currently, Froome has signed a contract with the racing team “Team Sky” and continues to set many world records. He is also an Olympic medalist